So, what are we saying?
The LoRa, WiFi and BLE Micro controller and LoRa Nano gateway for enterprise grade connected Things. With the latest chipset the LoPy offers a perfect combination of power, friendliness and flexibility. Create and connect your things everywhere. Fast.

We have created a hardware platform with four times the memory of previous generation micro controllers, three wireless network types, a product that can act as a LoRa nano gateway allowing you to connect up to 100 LoPy's. Create your own little private network and become a neighbourhood hero! When used as a private nano gateway, it will connect your other LoRa devices up to 5km however expect up to 40km range (when in line of sight) when connecting your LoPy to a LoRa gateway of a network provider!

LoPy Benefits

★LoRa Nano gateway or just LoRa/WiFi/BLE device – you choose ★ MicroPython enabled, use "the Linux of IoT" to achieve speedy developments ★ super small and light to fit in any cavity★ Ever so low power to enable years of battery life so there’s no need for new nuclear power stations to run millions of LoPys ★
What’s more…
With dozens of ready to use templates and much more added options, now you can create almost anything that comes to your mind. Combination of advanced content importers, different layouts, header styles, post types,… gives you a freedom and control you have never seen before. And you can do it all with the new Pymakr IDE.

Power Hungry?

We don’t think so. No need for new nuclear power stations to power the LoPys of this world. In fact, we’re quite confident we have a product that is mirroring the WiPy's SUPER
GREEN CREDENTIALS as the LoPy consumes only:

★0.1% of Raspberry Pi B+
★1.5% of the Arduino Mega
★5.27% of a Particle Photon

This is great news if you want to create something that is connected for longer periods and powered with a battery.

And what if you could build your own LoRa network?

Here is the clever part, you can use the module to switch a comms signal from WiFi to LoRa (and vice versa) thus making the LoPy both a LoRa Receiver / Transmitter and a Nano gateway capable of handling comms with up to 100 other LoRa nodes! This means you can go and create your own LoRa network for you, your friends or just your Things! No monthly bills for connectivity.
All you need to turn the LoPy into a LoRa Nano Gateway is a LoPy kit including antennas, a power supply and fingers to type in some code.
The way it works is illustrated below:

LoRa Nano Gateway Overview

We will provide the Python library needed to make the LoPy operate as a nano gateway and let you run your own private (or not, share it with your friends!) network.

We will supply more information about how to get the LoPy working as a nano gateway before the shipments in August 2016.

MicroPython is the Linux of IoT

The rapid-results microcontroller scripting language of the future. Simple, powerful and fit for purpose, this nifty new open source scripting language came about to replace long winded programming that is overkill for microcontrollers, a key component for electronics based products. MicroPython leverages the existing Python 3.4 design and optimizes it for microcontrollers to enable a lighter, faster and better coding environment that both programmers and hardware developers can use with ease.
Pycom continues and will continue to fund the development of core MicroPython features to ensure they stay Open Source.

And then …
All those hardware specs are awesome, but it get’s better still. The LoPy is really easy to use, because we have written a powerful and intuitive IDE – the Pymakr to make it even easier for you to program in your browser and load straight to the LoPy (read on for more information on Pymakr).

Pymakr connects automatically to your WiPy or LoPy via the serial or Telnet Server, runs your code on the fly, manages the internal file system, synchronizes your code instantly and runs it with just one click. It also takes care of firmware upgrades and includes a built in console that interfaces with the MicroPython REPL. Features code completion, static analysis, PEP8 style checking and a built-in interactive prompt.
Pymakr is the one and only tool you'll ever need to develop on the WiPy and LoPy.

PyMakr will be open source and we will release it right after the campaign is finished.

IMPORTANT NOTE: You need to make sure you have an antenna kit and a power supply to be able to make the LoPy work. The antenna kits we supply are outlined above but you can also source your own.

There are loads of cool stuff you can build with the LoPy. Here’s a few examples of what you’d need.

Need an Alarm for a remote shed?

or need to monitor your pet frog?

...and how about a remote light switch for those dark nights?

Or a remote control for your robot butler?

And there’s tons more to do. You have the choice of three different types of wireless networks which means it’s really easy to connect to your home WiFi, your mobile phone or a city or country-wide LoRa Network.

Here's an example of an IP64 LoPy enclosure unit with the external antenna Kit. All these items will be available for sale on the Pycom webshop.

IP64 enclosure with LoPy, expansion board and antenna kit...and lid.

Your imagination is the only limit.

What is LoRa?
LoRa is a Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) specification intended for wireless battery operated Things. LoRaWAN meets the key requirements of Internet of Things such as secure bi-directional communication, mobility and localization services. This standard will provide seamless interoperability among smart Things without the need for complex local installations and gives back the freedom to the user, developer, businesses enabling the role out of Internet of Things.
Public Networks are being rolled out across the globe by organisations such as SENET (USA), ThingsNetwork (Europe and USA), TATA (India), KPN (Europe), Bouygues (France), Swisscom, Proximus and in addition to that there are a number of private LoRa networks being set up including some run by main universities.

The benefits of LPWAN is that it is specifically designed for M2M and able to reach devices in remote areas, indoors or underground, with a long battery life – often over 10 years from a single AA battery.

Oh… and did we say we have friends? From our side, we have teamed up with a few network providers and joined the LoRa Alliance to achieve certification for the LoPy.

Yes, it's official, we joined.

For instance, we found a company as passionate as ourselves, SENET, based out of Boston, USA. In fact, they are so keen to support our developer community that they have agreed for each Pycom developer to connect (free of charge for non commercial applications) 2 LoPy devices onto their networks! At present they have deployed over 100,000 square miles of network coverage across the US with concentrations in the Northeast, the Midwest, and California. During 2016, network deployment will continue on an aggressive pace including deep coverage in the innovation districts of greater Boston and the San Francisco Bay area.

So if you are lucky enough to live in those regions then try connecting to the Senet network!
Elsewhere, you can connect to the OpenSource network “The Things Network” whom also happen to be Dutch…. They have/will have coverage in the following cities:

And if you live elsewhere… be a NEIGHBORHOOD Hero and use your LoPy as the LoRa nano gateway to see how many ‘Things’ you can connect in a 5KM radius! Mmmhhh could be a nice little competition here… more on that later in the year.

LoRa GATEWAYS & ARDUINO COMPATIBILITY AS STRETCH GOALS

GATEWAYS FOR STUDENTS

We want to enable our developers of the future to have fun whilst learning! What better way to achieve this than to give children the tools of the future. Many schools and Universities teach IoT but how about being able to connect your applications wirelessly without needing to take out a 24-month contract? We therefore feel that by offering key Universities a LoRa Gateway, with a radius of up to 40km, not only will their students benefit from the technology but those living in the surrounding areas will also be able to hook up their devices. Obviously, the educational establishments will need to agree to hosting of the Gateway and providing connectivity to the unit. We have some locations in mind but feel free to email us with suggestions for University locations.

ARDUINO COMPATIBLE LOPY

In addition, if we reach a stretch goal of EUR 100k of sales in this campaign, we will make the LoPy compatible with the Arduino IDE in time for shipment of the LoPy August 2016.

The remaining Kickstarter unit price is €29 (instead of the standard price of €34 – see the Pycom webshop).

Meet the stars of the LoPy Kickstarter video: Fred, Daniel and Tim. They and the extended team run Pycom on a day-to-day basis.

We're so grateful to everyone who helped us along the way.

Risks and challenges

The LoPy software has been under development for many months, it's built on top of MicroPython which has a large and growing community of users and contributors. The code has been carefully crafted with precision and has a strong and high quality code base.

We have automatic tests setups that run nightly tests to make sure that every feature stays rock solid.

We have managed to ship more than 5000 WiPy's and expansion boards since September last year, and we have grown our network of assembly partners and component suppliers.

We are confident that we have addressed every important aspect of the project and we have worked very hard to make sure that we had everything under control before showing the LoPy to the world. Technical risks are super low at this stage since the hardware has been extensively tested and the software is nearly complete.